Foot-leveling cushion and support



Mar h 17, 31- P. F. HAVEY 1,797,143

"OOT LEVELING CUSHION AND SUPPORT Fi led Aug. 5, 1930 6, gwventoz 2 6523? ffayez Patented Mar. 17, 1931 i v p UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEPHILIP F. HAVEY, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FOOT-LEVELINGCUSHION AND SUPPORT Application filed August 5, 1930. Serial No.473,193.

The invention relates to a foot leveling I Fig. 2 is a side elevation,looking at the cushion support for shoes. Inner side edge.

The object of the present invention is to F g. 3 s a longitudinalsectional view. 7 provide a simple, practical and ellicient foot Fig. 4is a plan view, the top covering be- 6 leveling cushion support forshoes of coming broken away to illustrate the arrange- 55 parativelyinexpensive construction, dement of the insert pads.

signed to be arranged within a shoe to pro- Fig. 5 we detail perspectiveview of the vide a combined heel cushion, longitudinal metatarsalmsertpad arch support, and metatarsal support, and 021- F g. 6 IS asimilar V ew of one of the longi- 10 pable of enabling a foot to beleveled from tudinal arch supporting pads, (so any angle at any point tosubstantially a Fig. l is a detail perspective view of one of horizontalor natural position of the foot. the heel supporting pads.

A further object of the invention is to pro- In the accompanyingdrawings, in which vide a foot leveling cushion support of this isillustrated the preferred embodiment of character adapted to operate asa shock abthe invention, the foot leveling cushion sup- 65 sorber forthe entirenervous system and to inport, which is designed to be arrangedin a sulate the foot against heat, cold and dampshoe similar to aremovable inner sole, is ness, and adapted also to effect anexercisadapted to fit snugly against the shoe at the ing of the musclesof the fore part of the heel portion thereof, and it conforms genfoot,at the same time relieving the pressure erally to the configuration ofthe shoe and 70 upon the ball of the foot. gradually increases in widthtowards the Another object of the invention is to profront end to followthe outline of the side vide a foot leveling cushion support equippedwalls or upper of the shoe. The foot level- With an adjustablemetatarsal insert pad, uping cushion support is designed to be of a perand lower intermediate longitudinal arch length to extend from the heelof the shoe supporting pads, and upper and lower heel to the frontportion of the shoe so as to suppp ng p oca e it in convenient port thball of the foot and it may be of pockets and adapted to be readilyremoved any desired length and of suflicient length and replaced thereinso that the body portion to extend the full length of the shoe to the ofthe foot leveling device maybe provlded toe thereof. so with the sizeand character of insert pads re- The foot leveling cushion supportcoinquired by the particular foot to be leveled or prises in itsconstruction a soft sponge rubcorrect-ly positioned Within a shoe. berbody portion 1 of sufiicient thi k t With these and other objects inView, the provide an efficient cushion for the foot and invention i t ith t ti d tapered to a feather edge 2 at the front and novel bi ti darrangement. f parts provided with upper and lower coverings flhereinafterdescribed,illustratedintheaccomi, i of i b l 1 fi lle'mnpanying drawings and set forth in the claims i l g i P 3 heretoappended, it being understood that va- Ower. 0 t t O y p01 9 3y $111Mrious changes in the form proportion and adhesive and stitches, certainportions 01 minor details of constructiom within tha areas being leftunattached to form a front metatarsal ad-receivin ocket 5. interseope ofthe cla1ms,mayberesorted to withmediate and i i pad receiving out departng from the spirit of the invention Pockets 6 and 7 and upper and lowerheel 4,5 or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof. pockets 8 and 9The Stitches 10 are p s the dmwmgsi erably arranged .at the ends of theinter- Flgul'e a Perspective Vlew of f foot mediate and heel pockets,butthey may be eling cushion support constructed 111 c r arranged at anyother desired point or points ance with this invention, looking at theouter and may be of any desired number to coside edge of the cushionsupport. operate with the adhesive material in hold- 193 ing the upperand lower coverings 3 and 4 to the body portion 1.

The metatarsal pocket 5 extends substantially across the front of thecushion support from one side to the other, as clearly illustrated inFigs. 1 and 4 of the drawings, sufiicient space beingprovided at 11 forcement or other adhesive material for securing the top covering 3 to thebody portion of the support at the front or toe portion of the same. Themetatarsal )ocket communicates with the outer side e ge of the cushionsupport by a substantially diagonal passage 12 of a width less than thewidth of the metatarsal pad-receiving pocket and extending from thecentral portion of the ocket at the rear thereof to the outer side 8( geof the cushion support at a point intermediate of the ends thereof, thetop covering being cemented to the body portion at opposite sides of thediagonal entrance passage 12. The passage 12 will enable a metatarsalinsert pad 13 to be readily introduced into the pocket 5 and the saidmetatarsal pad, which is constructed of soft rubber or other suitablematerial, is provided at its lower face, which is flat, with a vacuumcup 14, and the upper face of the 'm'etatarsal pad. 13 is convex orrounded.

The pressure on the metatarsal pad will expel the air from the vacuumcup, which will operate to maintain the metatarsal pad in its adjustedposition, and the said pad may be arranged at different points in themetatarsal pad receiving pocket to enable the pad to properly fit andsupport the ball of the foot of the wearer of the shoe to which thecushion support is applied. The 1netatarsal pad is of irregular circularshape, the front portion being approximately semicircular and the rearportion being slightly tapered, as shown, but any desired form ofmetatarsal pad may, of course, be employed to fit the foot to beleveled, cushioned and sup rted.

T 1e upper and lower intermediate pockets are located at the inner sideedge of the cushion support and are open at thesaid edge and areapproximately segmental in configuration to receive segmental archsupporting pads 15 and 16 constructed of soft sponge rubber or othersuitable material and having flat faces to fit against the fiat upperand lower faces of the body portion, and convex or rounded faces to fitagainst the soft top and bottom covering. The longitudinal archsupporting ads may be of any desired thickness to pro uce the desiredsupport for the arch of the foot, and one or both pads may be used. Thesaid arch supporting pads, which are removably arranged in theintermediate pockets, may be readily taken out of the pockets andreplaced, and one or more pads of the desired thickness may be easilyand quickly applied to the foot leveling cushioning support.

The top heel pocket is arranged at the outer edge of the heel portion ofthe cushion sup port, and is open at the said outer edge to enable a toppad 17 to be placed in the pocket and removed therefrom, and the bottompocket 9 is located at the lower face of the ody portion and is open atthe inner side edge thereof to permit a bottom pad 18 to be placed inand removed from the pocket. The inner and outer side edges of the topand bottom pockets are curved, as shown, the outer edge of the pocketconforming to the configuration of the adjacent portion of the side edgeof the body portion and the inner edge of each pocket bein curved asshown from one end of the poo et to the other to produce anapproximately elliptical pocket. The pads 17 and 18 are similar inconfiguration and structure, so that a pad of the same form andstructure may be arranged in either of the pockets. The pads may, ofcourse, vary in thickness and oneor more heel pads may be applied toeither pocket.

By adjusting the arch supporting pads and the heel pads. a foot may bereadily leveled from any angle and supported in substantially ahorizontal or natural position within a shoe, and the latter will wearevenly and the foot will be properly supported and cushioned.

The top covering is cemented between the pockets and also around thefront of the metatarsal pad-receiving pocket at opposite sides of thesame, and the entrance passage, and the portion 19 of the rear wall ofthe metatarsal pad-receiving pocket at the inner side of the cushioningdevice is concave and the portion 20 at the rear wall at the outer sideis preferably convex, as shown, but the configuration of the pocket maybe modified if desired, as well as the size of the metatarsal pad. Thelower portion is cemented to the body portion except at the intermediatepocltet and the bottom heel pocket.

The pads 17 and 18 for the heel ockets are designed to be in the natureof lifts, and are curved at their inner and outer edges to con form tothe configuration of the pockets and are tapered longitudinally andtransversely, the transverse taper extending from the outer edge to theinner edge of each hcel pad.

What is claimed is:

1. A foot leveling cushion support for the foot designed to be arrangedinteriorly of a shoe and comprising a soft cushioning body portionconforming to the configuration of the shoe, upper and lower softflexible coverings secured to the upper and lower faces of the bodyportion and having unattached portions forming an upper frontmetatarsal.

pad-receiving pocket, upper and lower intermediate poo ets and upper andlower heel pockets, each of said pockets communicatmg with the exterior,and removable pads arranged in th said pockets.

ings secured to the upper and lower faces of the body portion and havingunattached portions forming an upper front metatarsal padreceivingpocket, upper and lower intermediate pockets and upper andlower heelpockets, the metatarsal pad-receiving pocket being provided with aconstricted approximately diagonally arranged entrance passage extendingfrom the back of the pocket to the outer side of the cushion support, ametatarsal pad insertible through the said entrance passage and arrangedWithin the metatarsal pocket, each of the other of said pockets openingat the marginal portion of the cushion support and adapted to removablyreceive a pad.

3. A foot leveling cushion support for the foot designed to be arrangedinteriorly of a shoe and comprising a soft cushioning body portionconforming to the configuration of the shoe, upper and lower softflexible coverings secured to the upper and lower faces of the bodyportion and having unattached portions forming an upper front metatarsalpadreceiving pocket, upper and lower intermediate pockets and upper andlower heel pockets, the intermediate pockets being arranged at the innerside edge of the body and adapted to receive arch supporting pads, andthe said heel pockets being located at the opposite edges of the heelportion and adapted to removably receive pads.

4. A foot leveling cushion support for the foot designed to be arrangedinteriorly of a shoe and comprising a soft cushioning body portionconforming to the configuration of the shoe, upper and lower softflexible coverings secured to the upper and lower faces of the bodyportion and having unattached portions forming an upper front metatarsalpad-receivin pocket, upper and lower intermediate pocEets and upper andlower heel pockets, the intermediate pockets being arranged at the innerside edge of the body and adapted to receive arch supporting pads, andthe said heel pockets being located at the opposite edges of the heelportion and adapted to removably receive pads, the heel pads beingtapered from their outer to their inner ed es.

5%. A foot leveling cushion support for the foot designed to be arran edinteriorly of a shoe and-comprising a so cushioning body portionconforming to the configuration of the shoe, upper and lower softflexible coverings secured to the upper and lower faces of the bodyportion and having unattached portions forming an upper front metatarsalpadreceiving pocket, upper and lower intermediate pockets and upper andlower heel pockets, the intermediate pockets being arranged at the innerside edge of the body and adapted to receive arch supporting pads, andthe said heel pockets being located at opposite edges of the heelportion and adapted to removably receive pads, the pads of theintermediate pockets and of the heel pockets being tapered from theirouter to their inner edges.

6. A foot leveling cushion support for the foot designed to be arrangedinteriorly of a shoe and comprising a. soft cushioning body portionconforming to the configuration of the shoe, upper and lower softflexible coverings secured to the upper and lower faces of the bodyportion and having unattached portions forming an upper front metatarsalpad-receiving pocket, upper and lower intel-mediate pockets and upperand lower heel pockets, and stitches located at the edges of the bodyportion and the top and bottom coverings and located between the pocketsto sup plement the fastening means for securing the said coverings tothe body portion.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 2nd day of August1930.

PHILIP F. iIAVEY.

